


Afterlife

by Euphoric_Mania



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 02:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21549847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Euphoric_Mania/pseuds/Euphoric_Mania
Summary: Prompt Challenge: AfterlifeFeaturing my original character Taeli Stormchild, pre-Legion, with a little snippet of her side when she first meets OC Ceros Sunweaver.





	Afterlife

I never wanted to be a soldier.

I heard all the stories the others told, of how the Horde were monsters- but, I had never met a person of the Horde. Who was I to assume that they were monsters? Surely, the Horde had as many different personalities and beliefs and ideals of morality as those who might call themselves Alliance. It was not my place to paint all with the same brush. Nor did I feel the need or desire to defend a conflict started before I was born. This was the war of older generations.

This was not my war.

I was an orphan, left on the steps of a tavern in a small town on a trade route and raised by a mismatched family. I grew up knowing love, and kindness. I was human, but my Papa was a dwarf, my Mama and her mate were kaldorei, my brothers were dwarven, human, and draenei. I had an Auntie who was a gnome, and more uncles than I could count. My family was a mix of all sorts but, oh, they loved me so. And I loved them.

I became a hunter.

I could communicate with animals in a way the local hunters had not seen in a very long time. Hounds, birds of prey, even horses became my closest of friends as I explored life through their eyes. I'd been given two dire wolf cubs, whose mother had been killed, leaving them alone. I raised them, and we were inseparable, experiencing the world through each others senses. They were my brotherwolves, and I was their wolfsister, and together we were Pack. 

One of the older hunters sent away a letter, and weeks later a man appeared in town who I had never seen before. He came to the inn and spoke to my Papa late one night. I sat on the stairs eavesdropping, and learned he was a Beast Master. I was apprenticed to him the very next day, and he taught me everything I know.

I decided to go exploring.

I was so young and naive and excited to see the world. I wanted to go to Stormwind, and visit my uncle in Ironforge, and explore the ancient forests of Ashenvale that Mama had told me stories of. So I packed my bow, and the quiver of arrows that went with it, loaded the bags of gear my family had packed for me onto the silver dappled stallion I had also bonded with, and left home with my wolves and horse, guided by the stars and the maps my Papa had given to me.

Oh, the world was such a large place! There was so much to learn, so much to see. From the jungles of Stranglethorn Vale to the desert lands of Tanaris, I traveled, hunting to survive and exploring to sate my thirst for adventure. I even made my own coin, hunting for locals and doing odd jobs to pay the fares I needed. I found my way to Pandaria and there, in the verdant green bamboo forests where I hunted, I encountered you.

You were a mage.

I had never seen a blood elf so close before. You were radiant, as beautiful as the morning sun in early summer, with your fair skin and flame-gold hair. The silken robes of crimson and violet that you wore were stitched with runes of power that I couldn't begin to comprehend. My surprise at your appearance had been evident, but your animal presence was calm against my own, as you gazed back at me, where I stood holding my bow and a fresh killed rabbit.

You murdered me.

I was quite surprised at first. You'd raised your hands so casually. I didn't know what hit me- I'd hardly felt a thing. As I clung to my body, feeling the beating of my dying heart slowing down, so slowly, I turned and gazed at you, feeling... shocked. I had done nothing to you. Why did you do that to me? You stood over my body, watching me die, and the look on your face... I didn't know how to read it. You were not happy, or exultant, or angry. You looked... numb.

A presence nearby hovered. A great winged creature that had not been there before, its face invisible beneath a hood, stood waiting for me. She held out a beckoning hand, but I pulled back, afraid of the darkness the creature brought. I was not ready. My heart was still beating, slowly, so slowly, and you were still standing there watching, doing nothing. Long enough for my wolves to take you down.

You realized your danger too late to utter your words of power, and I watched in horror as they tore you to pieces in their grief and rage, because you had taken me from them when we hadn't been ready for it. For a little while we sat together, gazing at each other wordlessly, your eyes streaming tears as you realized that your fate was to be the same as my own, and my wolves howled to the perfect blue skies of their devastating loss.

I was saved, but you were not.

There was so much pain. Whatever terrible magic you worked had done so much damage, but a priestess caught and held my spirit, while a paladin infused me with light and strength, and together they reunited me with my body and made my heart beat strong again, and I... I crawled to your side despite my crippling agony, and laid in the growing pool of your blood, and held your hands. I begged the healers to help you but they shook their heads, because you were Horde and they were not. So I gazed into your eyes and you into mine, and I witnessed your light fade away as your last breath rattled and bubbled in a final froth of blood. I cried for you, because I knew you were still there, watching me, and I knew that no one should have to die alone.

I never wanted to be a soldier. I never wanted to be part of this war. I clutched your lifeless body to mine and I wept for your loss, a stranger grieving for another stranger, not just because for a brief window of time we shared the same experience, but because it was the right thing to do.

Now, as I gaze into the desperate, begging eyes of this blood elf, trapped and tortured in this filthy demon prison, I see your eyes again. I held his face in my hands and I was holding yours again. He was so weak. It was possible that he would die anyway, even after I rescued him. I could hear the screeching demons as they grew nearer, and saw the faintest glimmer of hope in his eyes. 

I couldn't save you... but I could save him.


End file.
